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On the basis of one case, the authors review the symptoms and signs of alcoholic ketoacidosis. This occurs in general in a middle aged woman during the abundant ingestion of alcohol. It presents as drowsiness, headache and vomiting. Laboratory examinations reveal slight hyperglycaemia, hypokalaemia and a metabolic acidosis with the presence of ketones in the blood and urine. Blood alcohol level is nil. No other cause of ketoacidosis is found. The course is rapidly favourable. The biochemical mechanism is poorly understood.

Experimental studies carried out in unselected dogs often face the problem of instabilit of various parameters both in terms of haemodynamics as well as acid-base balance. It is possible, with the injection of a single dose of Fentanyl of 0.35 mg.kg-1 given over a period of ten minutes to obtain, from the 30th minute after the injection, satisfactory cardiovascular stability (confirmed during 120 minutes in 9 dogs and 360 minutes in 2 of them). This haemodynamic state at T + 30 is obtained with a fall in mean blood pressure of -40 per cent, and an increase in peripheral resistance of +38 per cent and stroke volume of +11 per cent. This stability, obtained at the price of a stable normacapnia, correction of any possible metabolic acidosis and maintenance of body temperature, makes it possible to study the cardiovascular effects of certain types of treatment or of induced pathology.